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Supporting the Asian American/Pacific Islander Community
SUPPORTING THE AAPI COMMUNITY
Standing Against Anti-Asian Violence: Webinars and Video Series Promote Allyship
Stacey Wang
After recent hateful acts against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Holland & Knight’s Diversity Council and the Asian/Pacific Islander (API) Affinity Group wanted to do something extra for the firm’s commemoration of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in May. They encouraged attorneys and staff from across the firm to discuss racial justice and allyship as well as reflect on how to better support the AAPI community. These conversations have been captured on video with the hope that the stories educate viewers and inspire further discussion on being better allies to AAPI friends, family and colleagues. (For a link to each episode, see API Video Series, page 8.)
Clockwise, from top left, Stacey Wang, Eugene Moy and Connie Chung Joe “The increasing racial attacks since last year, culminating in the attacks in recent weeks, make us fear for ourselves and our parents, grandparents and children,” said Partner and API Affinity Group Chair Stacey Wang (LAX). “We truly feel that ‘open season’ has been called on our communities.”
In addition to the candid discussions, the API Affinity Group hosted “Understanding and Supporting the AAPI Community” on April 8. The webinar promoted a dialogue about the recent escalation of AAPI hate incidents in the U.S. and the history behind them. Stacey led the conversation with two esteemed guests: Connie Chung Joe, CEO of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Eugene Moy, vice president of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.
During the discussion, Ms. Chung Joe cited two essential calls for action. First, victims need to get their story recorded and counted.
“They need to post on social media, report it to various websites and not let it go until it helps push toward change,” she said.
Second, she said, was for those who witness others being victimized: Record the incident on your phone and report it to various websites, take bystander intervention
training to help prevent incidents from escalating, and most importantly, support the victim so they know such behavior is not acceptable and they have worth.
Mr. Moy addressed the “institutionalized racism” that he said kept Chinese immigrants and other minorities from fair and just treatment under the law and prevented them from improving their economic and social conditions.
“From the beginning these were people seen as inferior and who didn’t have even the capacity to become citizens,” Mr. Moy said.
Keeping with this theme, the firm hosted on May 27 a bystander intervention training program that explored the “spectrum of disrespect” facing the AAPI community and the five strategies for intervention – distract, delegate, document, delay and direct (the five Ds) – while prioritizing safety. After the training, the diversity and inclusion committees in each of the firm’s offices and the Operations Center were provided toolkits to organize local, smaller sessions.
Hollaback!’s 5Ds
Strategies for bystander intervention, as provided by Hollaback!, which has partnered with Asian Americans Advancing Justice in interactive bystander intervention training sessions.
Distract: Take an indirect approach to deescalate the situation.
Delegate: Get help from someone else.
Document: It can be helpful for the target to have a video of the incident. Laws about recording in public vary, so check local laws first.
Delay: After the incident is over, check in with the person who was harassed.
Direct: Assess your safety first. Speak up about the harassment. Be firm and clear.
Holland & Knight’s Diversity Council and the Asian/Pacific Islander (API) Affinity Group pay tribute to the generations of Asians and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history and who have played an important role in its future success.
Each May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and the firm celebrates Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. for their numerous contributions. A record 23 million Asian Americans – a figure that’s expected to grow to more than 46 million by 2060 – trace their roots to more than 20 countries, each with unique histories, cultures, languages and other characteristics. In addition, there are 1.6 million Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders (NHPI) in the U.S.
The month of May was chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant, a fisherman named Nakanohama Manjiro, or “John Mung,” to the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.
API VIDEO SERIES: LISTEN AND LEARN
Holland & Knight’s Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month video series debuted on May 26. Please feel free to view and share the complete series.
Episode 1: A Series Introduction from Asian/Pacific
Islander Affinity Group Chair Stacey Wang
Episode 2: Witnessing API Discrimination: A Shared
Experience
Episode 3: Kristin Asai Shares Her Family History in
the U.S. Japanese Internment Camps
Episode 4: Highlighting API Contributions to the U.S.
Military
Episode 5: A Brief History of Discrimination Against
Asian and Pacific Islander Americans
Episode 6: Becoming an Ally with Jennifer A.
Mansfield
Episode 7: Perspectives from a Second Generation
Samoan American
Episode 8: Reflecting on the Importance of
Professional Mentors
Episode 9: Explaining the Model Minority Myth
